Topless is on the decline. With a simple observation of beaches and swimming pools in our environment, it is seen that the option of taking the breasts to the air is a minority. This was not always the case, as the older women in this report who lived through the eighties as young people without complexes remember. Now they cover up, for health or aesthetics, and thus join the younger girls who keep the two pieces of their swimsuit.
Why the change? Do you no longer like the way you used to tan your skin without leaving any marks in your swimsuit, get rid of the discomfort of straps and feel the pleasure of leaving your body in the fresh air? Some women go topless without restrictions, although more on the beach than in the pool. Another part, the majority, thinks about it. She says that it depends on who she is with, which strangers she shares space with, and she also assesses where she is, if it is a beach close to her house or far away, and if it is crowded or not.
Finally, there are those who prefer to keep the two pieces of the bikini or go to the whole swimsuit. They adduce reasons of health, comfort or "body shame". In this last group are those over 50 years of age who did practice topless in their youth.
Protect yourself from the sun
For Malen (37 years old), born in the Basque Country, going topless is exceptional. First out of habit, since it is not as common on the north coast as it is on the south or the Mediterranean. And although she now lives in Barcelona, she has no longer incorporated that habit. Then for health. "I think it is a sensitive part of the body that must be taken care of and I prefer not to expose it to the sun." She is the opposite of Zy (26), also Basque, who sunbathes as uncovered as possible to later wear unbranded dresses.
aesthetic pressure
"I'm no longer here to take anything off," laughs Carme (59 years old), imitating with a hand gesture the consequences of the force of gravity. "My body can no longer be taught like years ago, I think you have to accept it before making a fool of yourself," she adds.
There are also those who find the contrast of white on brown attractive, like Anna (55) who thinks of her partner. "I find that it has an erotic point."
"I used to do it when I was young, but I haven't done it for years, it's just that I've put on a lot of weight," admits Montse (62). “I don't need it either, I sunbathe naked on my terrace. Sometimes, if I go on a trip, since no one knows me... Others, on the beach, in a quiet corner. But it's also that almost no one my age takes off their bra on the beach, much less in the pool, and to be the only one...”.
For Mònica (57) it is more comfortable to wear a garment to support her voluminous breasts. "If you don't wear it you have to always be thinking about your movements."
Beatriz Gimeno, a feminist researcher, explains that "old age, ugliness, fatness continues to influence a lot, and more than in other times." First, because the feminine ideal of the perfect body is repeated in a thousand images that women receive on their screens. And second, because, supposedly, there are ways to achieve it (sports, diets, cosmetic surgery). So if you're not attractive, it's because you haven't tried hard enough, Gimeno ironically.
And that also applies to the new generations. Among young French women, women with a C cup bra go topless the most, by far compared to the rest.
“Constantly, and at different stages of life, we are at war with our bodies. When we are young, when we give birth, when we are older. Not feeling great makes us feel bad," says Alba Alfageme, a psychologist specializing in sexual violence.
Impudent glances
Most young girls don't have a problem with the men around them. “But there are looks and looks. Some are very unpleasant”, says Marta (29 years old) with a grimace of disgust. She especially remembers that of a guy in Greece who also believes that she photographed her. Her friend told her that yes, she also thought she was a "dirty", but that she should leave it be. Marta was left with the discomfort of not having sung the forty.
“You notice that, you know how to distinguish a simple look from another with a sexual sense”, adds Mònica (also 29). “You are calm and, suddenly, you see it, and she tells you with her eyes that she wants to fuck you. That is intimidating,” she adds.
Therefore, precautions are taken. “I like to go topless, but it depends where. Before I take off my top, I see if anyone around me can make me feel bad”, confesses Patricia (30 years old).
"I have sunbathed only with a thong three times, on quite empty beaches," says María (22). "Yet there was one there... looking at my nipples." I don't like it, I feel vulnerable, too exposed. And that the upper part of the bikini makes me uncomfortable when I wear it tied at the nape of the neck and I end up adjusting it to the shoulders, which doesn't look so pretty”.
“It is suffocating to be a woman”, Alfageme is indignant. "We should insist on the idea that they are not to blame for the excitement they generate." On the other hand, he continues, the prohibitions of topless in private swimming pools are justified by "disruption of coexistence", which they provoke by showing their nipples. “Where does the responsibility lie? Is it the woman who generates the aggression? Why don't you ask men what's wrong with her boobs?
Fortunately, there are also girls who are heaved to if there is male anxiety in their environment. “I don't care if they look or not. It is his problem”, answers Alba (20). "I want to be tanned and I don't think they're going to look at me or photograph me, really." "The topless is more comfortable, it doesn't leave a mark and it's cheaper, I save the top part," explains Clara (29) from Barcelona. "And if someone looks I say 'what are you looking at?'".
Social networks
The fear that someone will record or shoot a camera capturing their bodies also bothers them. This is what happened to Claudia (28) and her friends, a long time ago. They did not realize that they were filmed (they only sunbathed and bathed) and then a friend told them that they were appearing on a porn website. denounced. This type of complaint is exceptional, according to the police.
Young people are very aware of the risk of images. “If we photograph ourselves in a group, I cover myself with my arm. It's not that I don't trust my friends, but because you never know how that photo will circulate”, says Mònica (29).
The thong, essential
Curiously, many cautious young women are not at all concerned with showing their buttocks. María, like many of the young women named here, wears a thong. "It has nothing to do with it! It's just an ass. It wouldn't make sense to wear a thong as underwear and then have to put on big swimsuit panties."
The fight of the swimming pools
Rules are spreading across Europe to preserve women's right to show their breasts. In France, on the beach of Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, the French Gendarmerie asked some young women to cover up against the complaints of a family. And the Ministry of the Interior had to clarify the situation. Berlin's swimming pools have been forced to go topless after a French resident denounced them after being kicked out of one of them.
The Generalitat has also reminded the municipalities of the rights of women in municipal swimming pools. However, their presence is dwindling, especially in small towns. “Sometimes there is only one woman and she is the teacher or the pharmacist. And she gives up. That has to do with how they build her reputation ”, explains Alfageme who sadly admits the danger of this setback with the values of the extreme right riding. "The risk is that others say and decide about the body of women," she points out.
